Do you know what the Clio Awards are? Does it worry you that I do? For those of you who weren't forced to watch whatever was on network television growing up because your parents were too "wholesome" to get cable (no bitterness here), the Clios are given to advertising agencies in recognition of particularly poignant or humorous commercials. Apart from rewarding hard-working advertising executives with a night on the town, the Clios bring commercials to the attention of the television watching audience as more than just a chance to run to the fridge.
The Clios are only one way in which commercials have been heralded as an art form and a medium for communication. Many people watch the Superbowl for the outrageous and expensive advertisements. Even Boston's own Museum of Fine Arts is about to recognize the artistic value of television commercials with its film The World's Best Commercials of the Century, opening this Friday. Though the movie is a strict presentation of advertisements with no narration, introduction or conclusion, the ads themselves tell stories and generate enough interest to make you enjoy all 86 minutes. Think of it as a collection of skits like Saturday Night Live... with an agenda.
The film features some ads you've never seen, some you've never forgotten, and some that are so embedded in your brain that seeing them on screen is like seeing a best friend from elementary school. Appropriately, The World's Best Commercials of the Century highlights the commercials (and their role in shaping modern perceptions of a universal society) in a manner befitting of the medium - by letting the ads speak for themselves.
The commercial spots are presented in five categories, including Humor, Politically Incorrect, and Public Service Announcements (PSA's). Since they're chosen from all over the world, you get some pretty racy segments that air in countries with less censorship. Some ads include nudity - almost all of them have sexual innuendo (because hey, sex sells) - and, interestingly enough, most of them are British.
One commercial in particular, though not British, stands out as memorable perhaps because it's gained enough acclaim to be circulated over the Internet. A family of four Northern Europeans gets into a car and turns on the radio. They start grooving to the tunes and the lyrics come on: "I wanna f--k you up the ass." The happy family continues grooving and drives away, as the phone number for a language institute offering English lessons scrolls across the screen. Point made, ad remembered, product promoted.
Since the purpose of a commercial is to target an audience and communicate a distinct message, a good advertisement has a distinct beginning, middle, and end. The best commercials seem to involve a short plot, developed using universal cues that both communicate the message and fit into the short time allotted. Ads that tell a story have the added advantage of capturing your attention, getting you involved, and opening you up to their message. Usually, the message is still, "Buy our product," but told in a much more elaborate and entertaining way.
Oftentimes, advertisements are similar to snapshots, in that they show a single aspect of modern life. Inherently reflective of the culture in which they were created, these ads transport you through time and society into a world that no longer exists - or likely never existed.
Ads themselves have entered the pop-culture vernacular, with such catch phrases as "Just Do It," "Yo Quiero Taco Bell," "He likes it, hey Mikey!" and "Where's the beef?" More than just the subject of water-cooler conversation, a memorable ad can change an opinion or even the behavior of the viewer. The World's Best Commercials of the Century compiles some of the classics that have formed the foundation for the cinematographic masterpieces we see on television today. Though many of them aired before our time, all are still humorous or relevant because they succeeded in communicating an idea and eliciting a response.
One might argue that some cultural mascots have emerged from commercials, such as the Energizer Bunny, the Coca Cola polar bears, or the "Yes, yes I am," Bud Light man. In a consumer society hooked on mass communication, it's only natural that the lines between television and reality have become blurred as aspects of TV culture enter reality and vice versa. PSAs in particular hold an almost direct discourse with their audience, and the PSAs featured in The World's Best Commercials of the Century are strong enough to change your behavior and get you thinking. The Anti-Fur and World Hunger PSAs in particular provoke an interactive relationship by making the viewer nauseous. Hey, at least it's a reaction, right?
The television commercial has emerged as its own medium for sending societal messages. Where that message once was something as straight-forward as "Buy this product," these days it has evolved into a complex system of cultural coding and emerged as an art form in itself. Watch The World's Best Commercials of the Century and take a look at the foundations of the ads with which we grew up. You may never watch television the same way again.
